Mako: Unseen
by BethShadows
Summary: Collection of one-shots.
1. Erik and Ondina Songfic

**Update: I have a poll on my profile for what one shot (out of those I have a draft of) you would like to see next.**

 **Lucy (Erik and Ondina** )

* * *

He remembered her name. It wasn't difficult to remember. It was as unique and beautiful as she was. Ondina.

He wanted to talk to her. He had some things to say he wanted, needed to say to her.

Now that it was all over he wanted nothing more than to hold her again. Keep her close and protect her from the world.

He would give up everything he had just to see her on more time. Because, if he believed in such things, she was Heaven on Earth. But he blew it and he would have to live with it. He made his choices. And lost her.

He remembered her birthday. She had said it once and only once. He sent flowers. Red roses. That had been the first day he had said her name out loud since she left him on the beach. If he ever got another chance at it with her, he would take it without hesitation, no matter the price. And he would make sure he did it different. He would be different. Ondina mattered more than anything, even himself. At that moment though all he had was the roses. That she maybe didn't even get.

He dreamed about her. He was holding her in his arms again. He had never wanted anything in his life so badly. He wanted a brand new start. Him and Ondina with a life they could have had. If he hadn't been him. He wanted to walk hand in hand, never wanting the love to end. Never wanting to break the happiness. Even just a moment with Ondina would be better than the occupying emptiness. Even if she was screaming her head off at him.

But that wouldn't happen. He'd have to wait. Wait until another life and where he was a less easily corrupted person. Where love didn't make him do stupid things, only act stupid with her.

Ondina could move on with her life. He had to live with his choices. And he just couldn't live with himself. Not anymore. Because he would always remember her name.

* * *

The song this is based off is 'Lucy' by Skillet.


	2. Hello (Erik and Ondina)

For fictionlover94

* * *

"Erik."

One word brought a million thoughts. One voice brought many emotions. He didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to see if the dull, betrayal was still in her eyes. He had spent months wanting to sort it all, now that she was here, he wanted to run again. Running was safer.

It was safer than playing with hearts, safer than getting his broken again. Or breaking her's again.

 _"You were the first person I ever let myself feel that way about."_

He had ruined all future relationships she could have. She would spent each, petrified they would betray her too. The thought of someone else running their fingers through her curly hair or kissing her made his blood boil. And brought up that emptiness. Ondina didn't deserve him.

But here she was. Of course he had no idea what was going to happen. If she was going to slap him, or indulge his deep, never fading wish of another chance.

 _"You'd be amazed , the wondrous possibilities that could begin with a simple hello."_

Maybe this was his second chance. Her coming up to him. There was only one way to find out.

Erik turned around to face Ondina.

"Hello."

* * *

The second quote from is from American Horror Story season 5


	3. Lost Love (M rated) (Rita Harry)

**Trigger warning**. _ **I'm rating this one 'M' for themes of suicide and self harm.**_

So far these one shots really haven't been light and fluffy and romancey. I will try and move more to lighter and fluffier, but I find at the moment I'm better at dark and depressing writing. Not romance. Yet I choose to write a series of meant to be romance one - shots. I don't understand my brain sometimes.

* * *

The water made everything clearer. But not in a good way. It acted as a lense, amplifying the little details, the broken , marred skin echoing lost love. Most of the scars were old and faded. Some were new. Some were very new. They still stung in the water.

It was funny, she should be happy now. There were good people in her life, she was part of the Pod again. But it wasn't her Pod anymore. The friends she once had didn't bother with her, they whispered about her when she was gone, acting like bitchy teenagers in some classic high school drama. And the good people? It just made the failures worse. When she made the recent cuts, all she could think was how disappointed they would be in her. How disappointed he would be.

Love is supposed to be good and happy. It's meant to be this thing people long for and chase after. Some go there whole lives alone and lost , desperate to find someone. While others find it in everyone. She was lucky, or she thought she was. She found love and it made her life perfect. He had been perfect.

They had lived in the perfect stretched out time and made a plan for a brilliant future. Love, huh, look where it can get you.

Rita closed her eyes, shutting out the white of the sides of the bath. The white was plain, clear, empty of any mark. Empty was good. It was safe. It stopped the overwhelming emotions. It was safe and she liked it.

The water was cold. She had lost track of how long she had been lying in the bath under the water. It wasn't the most comfortable, but she was past caring. She kept her eyes shut, to open them again would be to see the scars. She hated them, but it didn't stop her making more. They were mostly horizontal, but on her left wrist was the one she hates the most. The single long vertical line that was a constant reminder of that weakness. That one moment of weakness.

Love left her broken and physically scarred. Loosing Harry made her feel like she had lost herself. And it hurt. A physical ache that had driven back to the Sea full time to try to heal. She chose Mako for their accepting nature to other Mermaids. But she broke the rules and suffered abandonment. Left alone against the world again. But it had mostly been her choice.

Harry's death had set it all off. It was the domino that got knocked over and made the rest fall down with a clatter. So when she broke the rules, she intentionally ruined things for herself. Being cast out was her way of isolating herself. Her initial refusal of letting Nixie , Sirena and Lyla stay had been her trying to secure her isolation. The ice cold act kept people away. While it wasn't her choice to begin with, she kept it up. Kept keeping everyone out and let herself fall.

Love destroyed her. And seeing them all so happy in love awoke the ache. But trying to end the pain herself didn't work so well before. It just left a long, vertical scar that she made sure to hide from everyone. Even those who actually care. The scars are for her eyes only. So only she can see how much loving someone would only bring her more pain than she could ever cause herself with that scrubbed clean blade that to her eyes is stained with red, red blood and the echoes of a lost love and a lost life.


	4. Stay (RitaxVeridia)

RitaxVeridia. Rita's sick and Veridia looks after her. Set sometime after season 3/4.

Word Count: 460

* * *

 **Two Months ago**

"Drink."

Veridia held the cup out. It felt uncomfortably warm in her hand and steam rose from the inside. Nerissa had made the potion with strict instructions that Rita had to drink all of it. " _Just in case it hasn't all diffused through. It tastes terrible so best to only have to take it once."_

Rita had been lying on her side, facing away from the door with the duvet pulled up over her shoulders prior to the door opening, yet when Veridia had arrived she had sat up. She was now regretting her choice of sudden movement as the room begun spinning.

"I hate that stuff. It tastes like old seaweed."

"You have to drink it. Careful it's hot," Veridia warned.

She pressed the warm cup gently into the other woman's hands.

Sighing Rita held the cup in both hands.

"Make sure you drink it all. I'll know if you don't."

Veridia sat down on the edge of the bed and pretended not to hear the foreign mutter that was almost certainly an insult in some far off langauge. She looked around the room, noting all the land clutter. Did land people really live like this? With their possessions hidden away in cupboards and boxes with only the chosen few allowed to be placed on shelves?

Her mind's wanderings were halted by Rita reaching down and setting the empty mug on the floor.

"It's all done."

"Good."

Veridia looked at her, noting how her skin was paler than normal, how her eyes were too tired looking.

"How are you feeling?"

"Cold. Dizzy. Tired."

The Mermaid was shaking slightly and had her arms crossed over her chest.

Veridia leaned forward placed her palm on Rita's forehead grimacing at the fever high temperature.

"You're burning up. You'd be better off in the water."

Rita shook her head," no. Too many people coming back and forth."

"You should get some sleep then. Nerissa said it'll have eased off by morning."

"I doubt it, " Rita said, while shifting so she was lying down again, "last time I was sick for three days even with that stuff."

Veridia stood up and gently pulled the covers over the other Mermaid.

"Just sleep, then we'll see in the morning."

She turned to leave but felt a hand grasp her own.

"Can you stay?"

"Of course."

 **The Present**

Veridia often wonder how she ended up on land, watching tv while failing to sleep with legs. Then she remembered. She was in love. She didn't want to be, but she always had been.

And as she felt a hand clasp hers and felt the other Mermaid nestle in closer, a simple sleepy smile was all it took to remind her that maybe love wasn't all that bad.

* * *

 **Sorry it's so short, I realised I can't really write romance so I am just changing this to a one-shot series thing. I will change the title and summary in a few days, once I actually have a new title...**

 **Happy New Year everyone! This year I hope to actually work on my many unfinished stories and update more regularly.**

 **If you have any requests, leave them in the reviews or pm. I do have a few ideas already, most of which are at least slightly typed**

 **(Also I started a mako mermaids blog on tumblr called mako-and-tails-and-stuff .**

 **I've posted a couple of things (including two transformation theories), and re-blogged a few things. )**


	5. I Have Questions: Part 1

For Twilightroxas7 who requested a Carly story. This was the first idea that came to mind so I went along with it. I have preliminary exams (mock exams) the next couple of weeks so I've had lots of revision classes which I have spent writing.

Thank you to everyone who has followed/favourited so far!

Word Count: 2,875

Summary: Set just after the end of season 2. Carly has a lot of questions regarding Mermaids , know that she's had time to think about the whole situation. However, not all the Mermaids seem to be pleased with this.

* * *

Mermaids are real. Mermaids are real. Mermaids are real. That had been the only repeating thought on Carly's mind after finding out about the Mermaids and that her best friend was a Mermaid, and didn't tell her she was a Mermaid. Although Sirena had insisted multiple times it wasn't Evie's fault, she was protecting all other Mermaids. Still it was a rough couple days in their friendship before everything smoothed over. Now, after all that trouble with a chamber on Mako, they were including her again. It felt like nothing had changed. Except nearly all her friends had tails...

Carly stood absent mindedly wiping down the counter of the cafe. She had accidentally knocked over a glass of water. Then she got distracted wondering how on earth the Mermaids and Zac managed to go so long without turning in public. Hearing Sirena singing on stage formed another question in Carly's mind. She already had an A4 page filled with questions, both sides. Carly picked up the pen from beside the order pad and dug the folded up page from her pocket and scribbled down her question. Can all Mermaids sing? Can you sing so well because you're a Mermaids? Are Sirens real? Was that Mermaid video I showed you real? Okay, make that four questions...

Sensing the opportunity once she'd finished cleaning up the water Carly made her way over to the two tables side by side occupying Zac who had his arm around Evie and Ondina and Mimmi. Evie smiled brightly when she saw Carly.

"Hey guys," Carly said, slipping into one of the two empty seats, one most likely saved for Sirena once she'd finished singing.

"Hey," Evie said.

"Hi Carly," Mimmi smiled at her while greeting her.

Switching to a serious tone, Carly leaned forward in her seat, resting her crossed arms on the table.

"So I have like a million questions about," Carly paused and looked around, no one was paying them any attention they were all listening to Sirena's singing, "Mermaids."

She could've sworn she heard Ondina scoff. She definitely saw her roll her eyes.

"Ondina," Mimmi chastised the other Mermaid before turning to Carly, "of course you do. We'd be more than happy to answer any questions. Right Ondina?"

Ondina gave a sweet smile, that was entirely and completely obviously faked, "of course."

The smile dropped off her face immediately after.

"I'm sure Sirena will as well, as will I," Evie said.

"Awesome!" Carly sat upright in her seat, trying to not smile so wide.

"And I'm here to speak for the Mermen. Also could I get a...banana and pineapple smoothie and a fish burger, no wait just a bowl of prawns."

"Really?"

"What, I'm hungry."

"I have a,"Carly once again pulled out the folded page with her questions scribbled on it,"list."

She started unfolding it.

"Maybe not here, Carly," Evie said, reaching out.

"Oh, sorry," Carly whispered , folding the paper back up and stuffing it back in her pocket.

"Why don't you come round to Rita's tomorrow?" Mimmi asked.

"Principal Santos' house? Are you sure?" She gave a sideways glance at Evie. Zac and Evie both were often over there, hanging out with the Mermaids.

"She said we could invite friends over, and you know about us."

"Okay then. Wait," Carly lowered her voice again as a realisation hit her," is she a Mermaid too? When I spilled that water in Chemistry, you both ran off..." She trailed off.

"No," Ondina answered abruptly. "She just knows about us. She went to help Mimmi because of your clumsiness."

"It was an accident Ondina, I was fine," Mimmi immediately came to Carly's defense.

Ondina turned to Mimmi. "If anyone had seen you..."

"I'll get you those prawns..."

Carly hurriedly stood up, pushing the chair back in., "What time tomorrow?"

"I'll text you," Evie said offering Carly a sympathetic smile.

"Sure."

Carly walked back over slowly to the counter. She always had the feeling Ondina didn't like her much. The blonde had never been one to hide her distaste for anything, and now it appeared she was that object of distaste.

"That was harsh Ondina," Evie said disapprovingly, shooting her a look to match her tone.

"Well she should mind her own business, we're not her research projects. And she could've exposed Mimmi and Rita," Ondina said folding her arms.

"Yeah , why did you lie about Rita? Telling Carly's not a Mermaid. She will find out, so will David."

"It's not our secret to tell. She doesn't want anyone knowing about her, much less another two of her students. And speaking of Rita, I'm going to go warn her that Carly's coming over unless you want to invite David as well, make it a party."

Ondina stood up pushing her chair out as she did so.

"She'll probably be with Veridia," Mimmi warned.

"Oh well. I'll see you at the Moon Pool later." Ondina stalked off leaving her chair out.

Up on the stage Sirena finished her song and happily skipped down to the group while the small gathered crowd applauded.

"Thank you all for coming tonight, we're taking a quick break but we'll be back shortly," David said before removing his guitar from where the strap kept it elevated before joining Carly behind the counter.

"You were great Sirena," Mimmi said.

"Aw, thank you." Sirena took her seat with the group, "so where did Ondina go? She didn't look too happy."

"Mimmi invited her round to Rita's tomorrow. She has a whole list of Mer related questions," Zac answered.

"She asked about Rita and Ondina told her Rita wasn't a Mermaid," Evie added.

"I can see why. It's different for us, people knowing about us. I know Ondina doesn't show it but she cares about her friends. She respects Rita and for Ondina-"

"That means a lot," Mimmi finished. Sirena nodded in agreement.

"What's up with Ondina? She wake up on the wrong side of the Moon Pool? Or is she just being Ondina, everyone's favourite grumpy Mermaid?" Cam appeared behind Zac and Evie, leaning with a hand on each of their chairs.

Mimmi glared at him.

"What?"

"Hey Poseidon!"

The white cat allowed Carly to kneel down and stroke him before he wandered off back into the house.

Mimmi had chosen the balcony for the group to sit. The group was to consist of Mimmi, Sirena, Ondina, Evie, Zac, Cam and Carly, but so far Mimmi and Ondina were yet to appear. Sirena had asked David if he wanted to join and hear about Mermaid life but he had declined, saying instead he'd come by later with their fish delivery.

Sirena emerged onto the balcony carrying a tray with a jug of iced tea and seven empty glasses.

"How's your cat getting on?" Sirena asked, pausing to let Poseidon run past her.

"He's fine, I re-named him Timmi, after this cat my gran had. He was this fat ginger cat than only ever moved to get food. It felt unfair to keep calling him Erik."

Sirena set the tray down on the table and set the glasses out in a line. "Poseidon's probably going to end up like that, Rita gives him so many treats."

Carly laughed.

"Really though I honestly can't thank you enough for him. That was an amazing thing to do," Carly said.

"It's no trouble," Sirena responded, "I mean it was sort of our fault that there was all that trouble with Poseidon."

Sirena used her powers to fill each of the glasses.

"That is so cool," Carly breathed.

"It's actually quite simple."

"So Carly, do you want to know what was actually happening that day with all those cats?"

"Yeah, lot's of weird things were happening," Carly answered picking up one of the glasses of ice tea.

"I want to know too, you never really explained," Cam chimed in, picking up another of the glasses.

"Basically Ondina turned Erik into a cat using ..." Zac began.

"Golden Spider Coral," Sirena said.

"Golden Spider Coral, which made Erik an exact replica of Poseidon, then accidentally duplicated them, making four cats running around, then they got out."

"It was most likely Erik you saw on the beach. And that's also why when you called Rita she said Poseidon was there, because technically he was. Though that could of been Erik..." Sirena trailed off.

"Are you really still bringing that up?" Ondina appeared from the house, Mimmi close behind her.

"Yes," Evie said.

"Um, how often do you do stuff like that? You know making massive magical messes?" Carly asked.

"More than I think they'd like," Cam said, "I often end up having to help."

"It's a common occurence," Mimmi said sheepishly, while taking the glasses Sirena held out to her and passing one to Ondina.

"So Carly, questions?" Evie asked.

"Should we sit down first?" Mimmi asked, heading towards the table that had extra seats from the dining table arranged around it.

Carly studied the list in front of her. There were a lot of questions to chose from.

Cam leaned over and looked at the page. He whistled.

"That's a lot," he said.

"There's more on the other side," Ondina said, her face unreadable.

"I guess, where are you guys actually from? You sound local. Apart from Mimmi..."

"We're from Mako. It's our home," Ondina answered.

"I'm from the Northern Pod, off the coast of Canada."

"Nixie and Lyla are from Mako too. We were born in the Moon Pool where Evie and Zac got their tails."

"How are Mermaids born?"

"Usually hatched from eggs in a Moon Pool, but most Northern Mermaids are still able to carry their young like land people do."

"This is sort of awkward but, you mentioned they're aren't many Mermen, so how are the eggs turned to baby Mermaids."

"We don't actually know. We're too young," Sirena answered.

"Moving quickly on," Cam prompted.

"Good idea," Zac and Evie said simultaneously.

"Transformations. What triggers them? What happens when you transform? How long does it take?"

"That was three questions," Ondina said.

"Any liquid that is mostly water will turn us, even if it's only a drop," Zac said, ignoring Ondina's comment.

"When we transform we basically turn to water then to Mermaid or Merman," Evie said, gesturing to Zac at the end.

"Quite often though our legs sort of seize up and stop working before we turn to water, so we end up falling over before turning," Zac said.

"It's painful and you get hurt falling over," Ondina added.

"So how long does it take?" Carly asked before taking a sip of her drink.

"It averages about ten seconds, but we have minimal control over it. We can make it take longer or happen pretty much instantly," Sirena answered.

"Suppose it wouldn't be handy, dramatically diving into the water only to be human for another ten seconds," Cam mused.

"What powers do you guys have? I've seen some but what can you all do?"

"It varies for each Mermaid and depends on where she's from but most have basic core powers - manipulating water, heating, freezing and invisibility. There is also telekinesis, the ability to make storms," Mimmi said.

"Isn't there some Northern Mermaids who can make it snow?" Ondina asked Mimmi.

"Yes. There used to be this Pod somewhere north,I think maybe Ireland or Scotland, they could turn water to gel or harden it like glass. There's other rarer powers as well. Oh, we can , with the right training, make fire."

"Wow. Can you?" Carly asked in awe.

"No, no one in our Pod can teach us."

"We have Moon Rings and potions, we don't need fire."

"Wait, potions?"

"What do your Moon Rings do?""

"Lots. Duplicate, shrink things, make things bigger, control objects, make it snow, change the weather. They hold the power of the full Moon, just like the Trident Stone," Sirena said while holding out her hand to let Carly study the ring.

"The Trident Stone, that's what Erik was after wasn't it?" Carly looked up.

"Yeah," Zac answered.

"Carly stopped Erik from getting it from me at the cafe. She poured water on him so he had to run off. That's how I got it to you lot," Cam explained.

"We didn't know, thank you so much Carly!" Sirena leaped up and hugged Carly.

"He still got it in the end," Ondina remarked bluntly.

"If it wasn't for Carly, it might've been much worse Ondina," Evie said.

"If you're going to sit and make snide comments all day , you're not going to be much help Ondina," Mimmi said, raising her eyebrow.

"Then I'll leave. I'm going to go see if Rita needs any help tidying downstairs."

"You helping with housework? Who are you and did you do with Ondina?" Sirena joked, trying to lift the mood that had quickly turned dark.

"Ha ha very funny," Ondina retorted her voice clearly portraying the sarcasm while disappearing off into the house.

"Ignore her Carly, what's next?" Sirena prompted.

It was so quiet down here. Most of the time. It was a welcomed break from the balcony though. Ondina sat heavily down on the stone bench in the grotto. There was none of that distant land noise- drifting beach chatter, those car things and land people in general. Ondina shifted uncomfortably feeling something digging into her leg. She dug a shell out from underneath the cushion, probably one of Sirena's, she threw it across the room. It splintered against the wall falling to the ground bashed and chipped. Ondina leaned back against the sandstone and closed her eyes. They were too trusting, way too trusting. They're just giving away all their secrets. Why had she helped? She sighed.

"Ondina, what are you doing here? I thought Carly was here?"

Ondina opened her eyes to see Rita standing on the upper-level.

"She is, she's upstairs getting informed on every aspect of Mermaid life. She'll be able to write a book on us soon."

She glared down at the floor until Rita sat next to her.

"I don't know Carly very well, but she is trustworthy. She's just a girl who's found out her best friend is a Mermaid, a mythical creature that only exists in fairytales. She's just excited."

"She wants to know everything about us! What if she blabs to someone? Or someone finds notes she made about us?"

Ondina looked at Rita, the other Mermaid was quiet, thinking.

"Creative writing assignment Land people write fictional books about Mermaids all the time, they all have different interpretations of us, what's one more? People usually opt for the most believable explanation, it's like that video of the Canadian siren, not many people believed it was real did they?"

"I guess. Wait you saw that video?"

"I did. That's why Sirena was acting weird. She came to the school to see David with a basket of prawns and lobster..."

"Zac said that. She disrupted their exam."

"The amount of trouble Mermaid magic causes, maybe we're better off in the Sea. No land people to find out about us," Rita said sadly, her voice quiet.

"I told Carly you weren't a Mermaid, but she will most likely still find out. I'm sorry,"

"It's alright Ondina. Thank you though."

Rita placed her hand on top of Ondina's.

"Maybe we are better off in the Sea."

It was surreal, to say the least. Sitting drinking ice tea and having Mermaids, and Merman, answering all her questions about their species. And she had a lot of questions. Two glasses of ice tea done and she had only asked about 1\5 of the first A4 side.

She had been planning on writing down the responses but decided against it. If she was writing she wasn't listening and this was definitely worth listening too, devoting 100% of her focus to listening.

"... aren't bad. They can be aggressive if we're in their territory, but some are actually playful at times," Sirena said.

"I once played catch with a tiger shark before he ate the bone I was throwing," Mimmi added in.

Carly had asked about sharks, being familiar with the creatures who inspired many books and films (mostly in the horror genre) as well as taking the headlines usually a few times a year. She had wondering if they posed a similar threat to Mer-kind.

"Can you talk to fish?"

She moved down her list.

"No," Mimmi answered," even if we could I doubt they'd have much to talk to about. We can't talk to crustaceans either. Just dolphins, whales, seals.."

"Rays," Sirena continued," though rays and sharks are an empathy thing rather than actual communication."

"Wow. So do you talk to them? Do they understand English or ...?"

"Sort of, but we can learn their languages I can speak dolphin, blue whale, humpback whale and penguin, we can speak to some birds as well."

"That is ...awesome. Can you say something in dolphin?"

Mimmi clicked and squeaked like a dolphin and Sirena started laughing.

"What did she say?" Evie asked smiling.

"I like sandwiches..."

Carly started laughing and within a second they were all laughing.

* * *

I still need a new title for this series. Anyone got any suggestions either for a title or one-shot?


	6. I Have Questions: Part II

I have Questions: Part 2

What do you guys think of the new title of this series?

Rated T for swearing at the end

Word Count:1,513

Also Carly's blog now actually exists on tumblr as carly-and-timmi , as seen below. There's only a few things posted but it's there.

Enjoy part two!

* * *

.com

 _Hey everyone, so an update from my last blog - I finally have explanations for all the craziness that's been happening. My friends filled me in on everything and answered all my questions (which was a lot 😂 ) I mean I did find out more than I bargained for but tbh I'm just glad to be included again. I felt really distant recently but we're all good now. They trust me (well not sure about Ondina) and that means everything._

 _Anyways, till next time, Carly signing out!_

 _#carlysblog #carlyandtimmi #crazylife #aboutme_

* * *

"Where do you guys sleep? In the water? On land?"

"Usually in the water. We sleep in the Moon Pool, the rest of the Pod have caves or stretch out on some soft coral or a kelp forest," Sirena answered," it's pretty comfortable."

"I prefer land, not adjusted to floating in the water yet, and you know bed's are just too comfortable." Zac commented.

"One day, dear brother, you will change your mind," Mimmi gently nudged Zac with her elbow.

"Don't count on it," he retorted with a smirk.

Mimmi walked carefully over to the table carrying another jug of iced tea as Carly continued on asking questions.

"The Pod; how is it structured? Do you all have different roles? Who leads the Pod?"

"The Mermaid Council controls the Pod, there's three in the Higher Council - Veridia's the overall leader, then below her are Cordelia and Misako, then there's another 13 council members, including my sister, Aquata. They're only called upon when really needed, like with the Chamber," Sirena explained.

"Veridia's the one who gave me my Moon Ring," Evie said, "You might get to meet her."

Mimmi set the jug down and took her seat.

"That would be so cool!" Carly beamed.

"Once we tell her you know about us," Sirena said slowly, "she'll be fine though, once we tell her how you helped."

"Moving on, isn't there teachers and what not in the Pod as well?" Zac prompted. He wasn't the only one who had felt the slowly shifting mood with Sirena's comment.

"Yeah teachers, there's also carers who look after the hatchlings; hunters, although we usually find our own food; gatherers who collect supplies for potions and spells; and jobs that every Mermaid does like maintaining the reef, keeping an eye on marine life, warding humans away when they get to close to protected areas," Mimmi listed while counting off on her fingers.

"Is there like Mermaid school or something?" Carly asked, teachers meant schooling of some form.

"Unfortunately," Sirena responded.

"We're taught how to use our powers, about marine life, how to navigate ocean currents, ocean languages," Mimmi elaborated.

"plant identification, star navigation, Moon Rings," Sirena continued.

Mimmi and Sirena shared a look, both trying to think of anything else.

"There is more stuff, but I can't think of anything right now," Mimmi said with a laugh.

"It sounds so much better than high school, just chill in the ocean all day," Cam said.

"It's still school, although we can drift in and out when we want, we still get taught useless things. Nixie complained so much when Rita tried to teach her this thing - volume reduction. I missed that lesson but Lyla complained about Nixie complaining and -" Sirena stopped as she realised what she'd done.

"Rita taught you... Mermaid powers?" Carly questioned. They said had she wasn't a Mermaid.

It was an slow silence that came down like a wave. Mimmi looked at Sirena wide eyed.

"I'm sorry," Sirena whispered softly.

"Ondina lied last night. Rita is a Mermaid, like Mimmi and Sirena." Evie broke the silence, meeting Carly's gaze.

"It wasn't our secret to tell Carly," Mimmi said.

"No, I get it. It's different for her than it is for you guys, I mean we're friends but she's my high school principal. Totally different dynamic," Carly waved her hand dismissively before finishing the last mouthful of ice tea in her glass.

Mimmi sighed in relief.

"Is she really your aunt?"

"No," Sirena admitted "but she took us in when we first arrived on land. There's no way we would've made it on land without her. Remember that coin me and Nixie tried to pay for our clothes with?"

"Yeah, that Spanish coin, that was literal pirate treasure. I looked it up."

"Nixie stole it from Rita, after she told us we can't go around stealing clothes."

"You stole clothes?" Evie asked.

"We put them back, after Rita took us shopping to get some of our own. She gave us the money to pay for the ones we bought from you as well."

"Totally wasn't expecting this," Cam said, taking a drink from his glass.

Carly put her list away, she had asked all her written questions for now. "So how many Mermaids are there? I mean there's what, six, seven of you and Zac on land."

"There's over 150 in our Pod, but there's Pods all over the world and some are much bigger than ours," Sirena said.

"There's about 500 in the Northern Pod but the biggest Pod was around 3,000 before they split off into about ten different Pods in the North Pacific." Mimmi informed them.

"Wow, that's... a lot of Mermaids."

"Bigger Pods aren't safe anymore, unless they live in desolate areas, like the Northern Pod, we're up in the Arctic Sea with no land people for miles. Just polar bears."

"You know, I never thought land animals would be threats to Mermaids," Cam mused.

"Dogs are the worst, if they see us near shore they always start barking, sometimes they try to swim out to us," Mimmi said.

"That happened to Lyla, she was spying on Zac and the dog saw her and ran into the water. It was too shallow for her to get away. It kept trying to lick her face," Sirena told them.

"She was spying on me?" Zac asked.

"It was when you first got your powers and we were trying to take them away. I think it was your dog that saw her, she said she was under the dock by your house."

"Really? Spying?" Cam asked raising an eyebrow.

"We didn't have legs, we couldn't do much else."

"Changing the subject, how did you get legs?" Carly asked.

"Moon Rings. We use their magic to get legs."

"Could you use that to turn a human to a Mermaid?"

"No, they don't have enough Power," Mimmi said," you'd have to use a Moon Pool for it to even begin to work."

"Isn't that how you got your powers Evie?"

"Evie was hit with the Power of 50 Moons, it wasn't necessarily the Moon Pool," Zac said.

"Power of 50 Moons? How...?"

"Potion. Rita had everything I needed to make it," Mimmi said.

"Anymore questions?" Sirena asked.

"Probably, I mean potions?" Carly laughed, " but right now I think I'm good."

"We have a question for you, but we have to ask Rita first," Sirena said standing up, "I'll be right back."

The blonde Mermaid disappeared off inside.

"What's this about?" Zac asked.

"Sirena's going to see if we can show Carly _downstairs_ ," Mimmi said.

"Oh, got it."

"I don't," Cam said.

Zac shot him a pointed look.

"Oh right, downstairs."

"Can someone explain?" Carly asked slowly looking at the others.

"It's easier to show you, but we need to make sure it's okay with Rita first, it's her house, so her rules," Mimmi said.

"Okay."

A silence settled over the group.

"Hey Evie, you done that History thing - the stuff on Russia or whatever?" Cam asked.

"You mean the essay on the causes of the October Revolution due for Monday?"

"That's the one."

"I handed it in yesterday."

"Of course. Damn it, my history knowledge is uh - limited, at the best of times. I know a few keys names, Ghengis Khan, Nicholas the Second, Jack the Ripper, Rasputin."

"Rasputin was the February Revolution, and I don't think Ghengis Khan or any serial killer will help you Cam," Evie chastised.

"You could always ask Ms Santos, she was a History teacher," Carly cut in.

"Good point. I probably won't."

Sirena came running onto the balcony, out of breath.

"What did she say?" Evie asked.

"She wasn't there, Ondina said she went back out. Sorry Carly."

"It's cool, I have no idea what's going on anyways."

"When she gets back I'll ask her, but in the meantime - how about we finally explain all the weird stuff that happened."

"There was a lot," Cam said.

"What do you want to know first?" Zac asked.

"How about you just start from the beginning? With what happened that night you two went camping on Mako," Carly suggested.

"Well it all began on Mako during the Full Moon..."

"Actually it started before that, when you two were fishing. Nixie was messing about with your fishing lines," Sirena interrupted.

"Really?" Cam asked,

Sirena nodded.

"What the fuck guys?"

"It all began at Mako when a young Mermaid decided to mess about when we were fishing at Mako..."

* * *

 **The original ending of this had Carly seeing the grotto, but I think I'll make that into another one-shot**

 **Hope you enjoyed**


	7. I Miss You (RitaxHarry)

I've had this typed up for a while but never did anything with it.

Word Count : 788

* * *

"I miss you."

The night was still. Quiet too. There was a definite chill to the air and the ground felt damp from the cold. She knew it was actually dry as despite sitting on the grass she didn't have a tail.

Rita traced her fingers over the headstone. Flecks of cut grass had dried onto the polished stone. She could feel the crumpled blades beneath her finger tips. She ran her index finger over the swirled writing. She didn't need light to know what it said. She'd been here far too often to not know every word off by heart.

"Sorry I couldn't come any sooner. I had no time. And you have nothing but time."

Rita smiled sadly. It was true while she desperately tried to scrape together enough minutes to come out here, he lay under the ground going nowhere.

Rita opened the bunch of flowers she had bought in the town five miles away before coming out here. She selected one, a dark purple tulip. In the faint light from the summer's night the petal had a slight glint. He had always liked this colour of flower. Said it was "Vampire-istic."

She set the tulip aside and set about arranging the other flowers in the grass stained vase at the base of the stone. Rita had removed the old rotten ones when she had arrived.

Rita stood up and picked up the singled out tulip. She held it in both hands. It was meant to have been a bouquet of these flowers, not one taken from discounted flowers from a supermarket to be left at a grave.

"It wasn't meant to be like this," She whispered to the dark. " It wasn't meant to work out this way. He was meant to be here. Alive. Not buried in some box under ground. We were meant to be together. I wasn't meant to be alone."

She set the tulip on top of the headstone while her eyes burned. Rita closed her eyes as tears formed and she stifled a sob.

"Why did you have to leave?"

In the dark she could see the writing. It was mocking her, or so it seemed.

 _Harry Culbride_

 _04/03/1954 - 20/12/1983_

 _Aged 29_

 _Beloved Son, Brother & Friend_

 _Taken too soon_

He will be missed by all who knew him.

The wedding had been set for May. Christmas dinner was to be at his parent's house. Her birthday the following day was going to be spent at their place, watching movies and eating Chinese takeaway.

Then it was all gone. All the plans were dissipated. Every good memory that was meant to be formed never came into existence. In a patch of ice and a careless driver their entire future had shattered like the windshield of the car.

Rita hadn't been with him. She had been with her sister-in-law-to-be, Louise. Harry had two siblings. A younger sister and an even younger brother. Louise and Hector. Hector had been in the car, he had been sitting in the passenger seat. He had survived.

It should be noted that this all happened in Scotland. Harry had been born and raised in Scotland. He had died in Scotland. He was buried in Scotland. All in the same little county up in the Highlands.

That's part of the reason Rita ended up in Australia with the Mako Pod. It was as far away as she could get from everything to do with him.

Yet here she was. Crying in a cemetery back in that same country she had fled in grief.

Turns out she couldn't leave him. Not even when he was a skeleton, which by now he would be.

He wasn't the only person she'd loved before, but he was the one she'd loved the most. It had felt the realest. So many things preaching about "soul mates" had seemed frankly ridiculous, but then Rita had met him.

Then she had lost him.

Loss reverberated all around the cemetery. Centuries of death and pain and sorrow had left marks on the place. It echoed. She could feel it. Her silent sobs and falling tears joined the mass swell of grief.

She bent down and picked up her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder she walked along the path to the exit. She needed to leave before the pain in her chest got any worse, before she broke down completely.

The barred gate creaked as she opened it. While walking across the almost empty car park Rita realised the car she borrowed from Hector was parked entirely squint. She found herself not caring. It didn't matter. No one else was here. She was alone. Both physically and mentally.

* * *

 **Annd I've gone back to dark/depressing one shots, sorry guys. I will try to do more happier ones in the future.**

 **My english teacher said I write like Neil Gaiman, he's the guy who wrote "Coraline" and this very dark comic called "Babycakes" which isn't for the faint hearted. That probably says a lot about me...**

 **(Quick note the dates were in dd/mm/yyyy format, so it's April 3rd and December 20th)**

 **I have five mock exams over the next five days , with two in on the same day so I'm not sure how much writing I will get done this week**

 **Anyways, till next time**


	8. Annie are you okay?

**Word Count- 1977**

 **The gang, those who actually go to school, aren't overly happy with these new classes that they didn't sign up for and yet have to attend, some more than others. Cam, of course being Cam, decides he's not paying attention and music provides him with an idea...**

* * *

None of them had wanted to take this class, it had been a surprise on their timetables for their final year at Suncoast High. Apparently this year there had been too many free blocks on their timetables so they were filled with study classes as well as Personal Finance and First Aid.

Cam yawned and didn't bother covering his mouth. He was only half listening to what their teacher, Mr Ross, was saying. Something about keeping to the side of the creepy CPR dummies. He twisted one ear bud into his ear and blocked out Jodie and her cronies' gossip with his music. "Red Cold River" by Breaking Benjamin played into his ear.

Two weeks ago they had learned how to bandage a cut on the hand and how to doan elevated sling. Last week had been the Primary Survey and putting someone into recovery position. Now this week was CPR. Cam had already forgotten most of the previous weeks' lessons. First Aid bored him, why would he waste brain-room on stuff he didn't care about?

"Thirty chest compressions, two rescue breaths. You would do this until the ambulance crew arrive. Now get into groups of two or three and you can try this yourselves," Mr Ross instructed, getting to his feet.

The man, Mr Scott Ross, had brown hair slowly greying and matching stubble and was getting slightly onto the overweight side. Still he was Cam's favourite Physical Education teacher. It was just too bad he couldn't make First Aid fun. Although, Cam suposed, there was no chance to intentionally throw and hit people with projectiles in First Aid, while in PE it was more acceptable.

The class scattered as they got into groups. One of Jodie's friends was squealing for some reason. Cam looked over and caught Carly's eyes. Carly looked to Jodie and rolled her eyes. Cam grinned at her.

"Cam," Zac waved him over to where he and David were kneeling on the ground beside one of the blue canvas bags containing the half human CPR creatures. David unzipped the bag and revealed the dummy inside. The torso part was a muckied pink with dirt seemingly embedded into it. There was no skin on the exposed white plastic skull but there was a face formed of too bright pink coloured silicone. The features were vaguley resembling of a human. Cam poked the nose. It was cold and rubbery.

"Cam, move the...thing onto the floor," Zac said.

"I'll get the wipes," David stood up and walked over to Mr Ross who was holding a large tub in his hands.

Cam half lifted, half dragged the dummy off of the bag and onto the floor, holding it by its plastic and silicone shoulders. Zac folded the canvas bag in half. The song playing changed to Blink- 182's "All the Small Things."

Zac set the folded bag beside the dummy. There was a slight padded bit in the middle which would offer protecion for their knees. The dummy stared vacantly at them with its pink silcone eye shapes.

"We should name it," Cam said, "it looks sad, maybe giving it a name would make it feel better."

"I got some wipes," David announced. He dropped one blue antibacterial wipe onto the dummy's chest.

"Perfect, I don't want to catch anything from this thing," Cam said.

Zac wiped down the dummy's chest with the wipe. David kneeled down beside the dummy's head and wiped the face and inside its ever so slightly open silicone mouth.

"We think we should give the dummy a name, make it feel better, the creature looks sad," Cam told David.

"Correction Cam thinks that, but I do support it," Zac said as he casually chucked the wipe to the left. It landed near to where Evie and Carly were wiping down their dummy.

The music changed again as the current song ended. "Smooth Criminal", the Alien Ant Farm cover of the original Michael Jackson song, began playing. Cam grinned as an idea formed in his head.

"We should call it Annie. Cause it's a Little Anne dummy," Cam said, referrring to the printed letters on the blue canvas bag which read "Little Anne".

"Why don't we just call it Anne then?" David asked.

"Annie sounds better," Cam said. He just wanted a chance to make the "Smooth Criminal" reference. He was a sucker for refereces. He had been the one to start the "what are those?" trend at Suncoast High. People still hated him for that.

"Cam, earplugs," Mr Ross spoke from behind him.

Cam removed his ear bud. The music still drifted out quietly from the earplug hanging down his chest. He had the cable under his shirt, coming out at his neck.

"Okay Cam, you go first. Stand up," Mr Ross instructed.

Cam sighed and got up to his feet to stand beside Mr Ross. He was about the same height as his teacher.

"Now what do you do first?" Mr Ross clasped his hands, "remember your primary survey - DR ABC."

Cam didn't remember. He hadn't paid attention since the first week where they had just been talking about gruesome injuries. That had interested him. This didn't.

Cam pretended to think. He had no clue.

"You would check for ..."

"I would check for...dangers," Cam said slowly. Evie was over-exageratedly lip synching the word to him.

"Are there?" Mr Ross asked.

"No." Cam didn't miss a beat. They were in a classroom. Unless a snake or something got in again, there weren't going to be any dangers.

"How do you know? You didn't look."

"It's a classroom sir, I don't think there's anything dangerous."

"Pretend, Cam. Now check for dangers."

Cam looked around the dummy. Just some carpet and a Zac. Nothing overly dangerous, not unless Zac grew claws and fangs and spat fire. He already had scales.

"There are no dangers," Cam announced.

"Now you check for a response."

Cam kneeled down at the side of "Annie". He bit his bottom lip and tried not grin too widely. His purpose was to entertain, not be laughing so much he couldn't do this. He planned it in his head, he wanted to do this. He needed a new legacy beyond "Vine Guy."

"Annie?" Cam asked the dummy, "Can you hear me? Annie? Are you okay? Are you okay Annie?"

Cam kneeled down and pretended to shake the dummy's grimey shoulders. He heard Zac give one of those weird nose snorts.

"Annie are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay Annie? Would you tell us that you're okay Annie?"

"Get out Cam," Mr Ross said," Go to the Principal, I'll phone her ahead to let her know you're coming so you just don't skip out."

"I'm just doing first aid sir," Cam looked up and Zac who was shaking slightly with supresed laughter, "We called the dummy Annie, I was just making sure she was okay."

"No, you were messing about as usual, which is why I'm sending you to go see Prinicpal Santos."

"Alright," Cam got back to his feet. "Bye Annie," he said to the dummy.

He walked slowly towards the door, head up, well aware everyone was staring. It was just a song reference. Then he got another idea. He turned back around.

"Cam, office. Now," Mr Ross re-enforced.

"I'm going sir."

He grinned and Moonwalked backwards to the door. Sometimes the Camster really was brilliant.

* * *

"Everyone get back to it. You are adults, or near enough now, surely you all know how to behave," Mr Ross said.

The door shut signalling Cam's departure.

"Pretty sure Rita's not going to care," Evie said to Zac, Carly and David.

"She'll probably just do that sort of "really?" look that she does and send Cam back to class," Zac agreed," I don't think Cam being Cam is cause for concern."

"Mr Ross only sent him out so he wouldn't start laughing, look at him," Carly said, discreetly pointing at the teacher. Mr Ross was standing beside the window, giving them a side view. He was trying not to laugh.

"Shoud we get back to it?" David asked.

* * *

"Why?"

Cam was slouched in the chair opposite Rita, well Principal Santos' desk. She didn't look overly concerned, more fed up at having to be there talking to him about this. He knew for a fact she was meant to have left early today, yet here she was.

"I was bored and First Aid is boring," Cam explained, "Why do we have to do these classes? They're terrible."

No one he knew liked that they were forced to do those classes.

"It was not my decision to run these Core Plus classes, but if you focus and pay attention you will get valuable skills from them," Santos said.

That was a very typical teacher thing to say.

"Cam, you're friends with Mermaids and a Merman, any first aid knowledge you have is valuable," she paused for a moment, "We can't go to a hospital or a doctor if anything goes wrong. There might be a day when your skills save Zac, Evie or any of the others, so please try and take it more seriously."

"You know, I didn't actually think about it like that," Cam said. He actually hadn't. He hadn't thought about anything like that, he just assumed the Mermaids could take care of it themselves. They helped Lyla when she got zapped with the Trident, and before that Santos herself when she got hit with a Moon Ring.

"There is a lot of responsibilty being involved in our world and keeping this whole thing a secret from anyone else, but I really appreciate all the help you've given us, I know the others do to even right up to the Mermaid Council. So with that in mind I think this whole matter can be forgotten. It's not even that serious an issue."

The Mermaid Council appreciated him? That felt surprisingly good. He hadn't been there that night in the Chamber with the leader of the Mermaid Council, but from what he'd heard she was not the nicest Mermaid around, yet the others appeared to hold a deep respect for the council that occasionally bordered onto fear, so having those Mermaids value what he'd done? He'd take that as a win.

"So I'm not getting a detention or anything?" Cam asked, wonderingly.

"No, you will not be getting detention. All you did was reference a song while actually doing your first aid work, I really don't think that warrants any punishment, and besides I think Mr Ross found it more amusing than he let on, he's a big Michael Jackson fan."

"Wait you know what song that was?" Cam asked. Mermaids knowing Michael Jackson just seemed weird.

"I'm a Mermaid, not a hermit. Now go back to class and try and take to First Aid more seriously in the future."

"You know I won't Ms Santos. " Cam pushed back the chair and stood up.

The Mermaids had their own healing potions, they didn't need Cam.

"We all know you won't Cam."

Cam opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He pulled the door shut behind him and started the walk back to class.

Although, if his friend's lives were at stake, he would want to protect them. Goddammit, he was going to actually pay attention in First Aid. The Camster could have a better legacy, one in which he was responsible for saving his friends, and all he had to do was listen to Mr Ross. He could do that. And he could prove people wrong, that was always fun.

Cam returned his earplug to his ear. Annie are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay Annie? How the hell was that on again? It was only in his playlist once. Bloody Spotify.

* * *

 **I can write light stuff! This was inspired by something I really wanted to do during First Aid class, which we were forced to do this year along with Finance. I really wanted to say what Cam said to the CPR dummy to the CPR dummy, but I didn't.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Late Nights

The pile of papers seemed never ending. No matter how many she read over and marked, the pile just seemed to stay the same. It was boring. Monotonous even. Just the same few points muddled together, again and again, often half formed and completely lacking in sense and grammar. Occasionally one was far better than the rest but it reminded her exactly why she hated being an English teacher. The excessive essay marking, it always took so long and ate into the hours. It didn't help that her written English wasn't always the greatest.

"What are you doing?"

Rita looked up. Veridia was standing in the doorway, wearing the aqua dress and her long hair loose and curly.

Rita set her pen down onto the quite frankly appalling essay, easily the worst she'd ever had to mark. The brief action gave her a second to try to hide how big her smile was. Seeing Veridia was always the best part of her day.

"I'm working," she replied. She was covering an English class while Miss Clarke was off on maternity leave. They hadn't managed to find a replacement for her yet and the school was still short staffed. They'd been short staffed since before she started there. And that was five years ago.

"Weren't you at work today?" Veridia asked.

"Sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything."

"Remind me again why you do this?" Veridia walked over to the table.

"Gives me something to do."

Veridia sat down on the empty chair on the short side of the table.

"Don't say it," Rita said, anticipating Veridia's response, which would have been something along the lines of "come back to the pod, then you'll have something to do." She was bored of that conversation. She knew Veridia understood her point of view but patience was not her strong suit.

"I wasn't going to say anything about the Pod."

Rita gave her a look.

"Okay, maybe I was. It's just I don't get to see you that often because you're at work all day and I'm with the Pod."

That was true. It was hard to find time. She was busy a lot, Veridia was busy a lot and then the girls were almost always around accompanied by Zac and Evie more often than not.

"So we make time."

Or tell the others. Actually, no. She hated keeping their relationship a secret but somehow the thought of anyone else knowing about them made her uneasy. They would keep it between them until they were both ready to tell people.

"When? You always say that and then you're always busy."

"Tomorrow. Let me finish marking these tonight and tomorrow, I'll be all yours." Rita smiled.

"I should go then, leave you to it." Veridia made a move to stand, shifting her chair back slightly.

"No, stay," Rita said, "I want you to."

"Rita placed her hand on top of Veridia's. Veridia moved her hand so their fingers interlocked.

"I miss you when I'm at work," Rita said, "I hate not being able to see you and then when I can see you there's always someone else here."

"Is there someone else here just now?"

"No. It's just us."

"That's good to know."

Rita laughed. She leaned in and her lips met Veridia's. Veridia always tasted like the sea, the lingering hints of salt on soft lips.

"I should get back to this," Rita whispered against Veridia's lips. She kissed Veridia again, quick and fleeting, before pulling away.

""Any chance you could finish your work tomorrow night and we could keep doing that?" Veridia asked, smiling softly.

Rita laughed. It was in that moment, looking at Veridia smiling and happy, that she felt it again. Love. Romantic love. She loved Veridia. There was no doubt about that.

"I have to get these done for tomorrow."

She wasn't going to say anything about her feelings, not yet. They'd only been back together one Moon cycle, it was too fast. Way too fast.

"What is it you're actually doing?" Veridia asked slowly, looking at the pile of essays scribbled in red ink and the ones Rita had yet to mark.

"Marking essays. All these students have read the same book and then they have to write about the book, analysing things like themes, symbols, imagery, language, narrative style," Rita explained.

"Why?"

"I have no idea. There is no point to these things."

"So why do they do them, if there's no point?"

"I honestly don't know."

* * *

The rest of the marking took another three hours. She finished the last terrible essay a little after one am. Her hand was cramping and sleeping at the table felt preferable to getting up and walking up the stairs. Rita had made Veridia go to bed after an hour. The other Mermaid had been exhausted and close to falling asleep sitting up at the table. For that first hour Rita had sat holding Veridia's hand while Veridia listened to her many complaints about the essays. There had been many, many complaints and most ended up being in Spanish, which Veridia only spoke a few words of.

Rita left her stuff sitting out and walked slowly to her room, Poseidon following. Once outside her room she opened the door carefully and slipped quietly in. Poseidon darting in ahead of her before padding calmly over to her bed, and settling on his own bed underneath her's.

Veridia was lying sleeping on her side facing the far wall. Rita smiled, glad Veridia was asleep. Veridia didn't need to see her stupid smile as she looked at the woman she loved. Rita kicked her slippers off, each landing a little ways in front of her. She kneeled down and sorted them out so they sat perfectly aligned with each other.

She carefully walked over to the bed, the thick carpet hiding her footfalls. Once at the edge of the bed she lifted the duvet and climbed in. Rita turned onto her side to face Veridia. She lifted her hand and lightly traced Veridia's cheekbone. The Mermaid stirred and opened her eyes.

"Sorry," Rita whispered.

Veridia moved, leaning up against the pillows. Rita always had them in an L shape against the headboard and wall. Veridia held out her arm. Rita shifted in close and rested her head on Veridia's chest, her arm across Veridia's stomach resting on her hip. Veridia wrapped her arm around Rita.

"Goodnight," Rita whispered. She closed her eyes and focused on Veridia's steady breathing. The other Mermaid was already sleeping again. She was always like that, able to fall asleep in an instant while Rita tended to struggle to get to sleep. It was easier when Veridia was there, a lot of things were easier when Veridia was there.

She fell asleep not much later listening to Veridia's heartbeat and one repeating thought.

 _"I love you."_

* * *

 **See, I can write light hearted stuff. Not often but I can.** _  
_

 **Happy Pride Month, and I hope you enjoyed this latest one-shot.**

 **I have posted this on my tumblr, (mako-and-tails- and-stuff) in case anyone's also seen it on there**


	10. You Are My Valentine

The bookcase door sliding shut behind Veridia effectively shut out the flustering and panicking going on down in the grotto. The soft carpets and painted walls soaked in the noise and left the place peaceful and still. Mimmi and Sirena had been frantically discussing something while Ondina had been leaning against the wooden railing on the upper level of the grotto watching the commotion.

Ondina had told her Rita was upstairs and Veridia gratefully left the commotion. What did it matter if Mimmi's shoes were blue or purple. They would still be uncomfortable shoes. Veridia could only just handle the sandals she was currently wearing.

She found Rita on the balcony, sitting with her laptop on the table and a cup of tea in her hand

"Why is everyone freaking out today?" Veridia asked.

Rita set her cup down on the table, on top of the coaster as never set it straight on the table and got annoyed when anyone else did that.

"You mean Mimmi and Sirena in particular?" Rita asked. "They were creating quite a stir so I came up here to have my tea and escape the chaos. Poseidon joined me."

Veridia glanced at the white cat curled up on the wicker couch. He twitched his tail and stared at her, his eyes unblinking.

"That cat does not like me."

Rita looked over.

"He really doesn't."

It was true. Poseidon had hissed at her numerous times, usually when she went near Rita and Poseidon was already beside her.

Veridia sat on the chair beside Rita.

"It's Valentine's Day today," Rita said, "David and Sirena are having a picnic on the beach and Mimmi is panicking about Chris. Not sure why."

"Valentine's Day?" Land people had a lot of holidays and celebrations. Far more than Mermaids did.

"It's a day where land people celebrate love. They give gifts and do things together."

"Why do they need a specific day to do that?" If you love someone you don't need an exact day to do show them.

"I'm not sure. I did get you something though," Rita threaded her fingers into Veridia's and Veridia let Rita pull her hand to rest on her knee. Veridia couldn't stop her smile.

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to," Rita smiled softly.

Veridia leaned and in met Rita's lips in a soft kiss. Veridia lightly traced her fingertip up along Rita's cheekbone.

"I have officially given up on Mimmi!" Ondina cried out, making her presence upstairs known.

Veridia pulled her hand back. They weren't hiding their relationship anymore , but private moments are private moments. It was still … uncomfortable being open in front of Ondina and Mimmi and especially Zac and Evie.

Rita still held her other hand under the table. Veridia didn't want to let go, not yet.

Ondina strode out onto the balcony and collapsed down onto the seat beside Poseidon. Poseidon leapt up and jumped down, escaping the dramatics of the Mermaid. The cat didn't seem to like anyone besides Rita. Maybe Sirena too.

"What is she doing now?" Rita asked.

Ondina sighed. "She keeps changing her mind, one minute she's all excited about going out with Chris, the next she's talking about how she wants to cancel and it's a mistake continuing a relationship with Chris. I don't know what she's thinking!"

Rita caught Veridia's eye.

They all knew it. Mimmi liked Ondina. Ondina liked Mimmi. And neither of them did anything about it except give piney looks to each other and get jealous of romantic attention the other received from anyone else.

"Ondina," Rita began.

"What?" Ondina asked.

"I think you should talk to Mimmi."

Ondina slouched back on the couch. "About what?"

Veridia bit her lip as her smile widened.

"Just talk to Mimmi."

Ondina sighed and struggled up off the couch.

Veridia watched her retreating down into the house.

"Were we ever that bad?" Veridia asked. It had taken her a while to admit her feelings and even longer before she told Rita. She'd known that Rita had liked her, as more than friends. They both knew how they felt, but it took a long time to admit it.

"No. Never that bad. We always knew, we just did nothing about it."

They'd ignored their feelings for so long, just going along as friends.

"And then Cordelia and Meredith broke up and set a bad example for how badly things can go once a relationship ends," Veridia said. Their group of friends had been a close-knit group until those two had split up.

"We were such cynical teenagers."

"Well you've met my mother." When her mother, Vanora, had been on the council she was known for her less than cheery outlook on all matters.

"Come with me," Rita stood up, still holding Veridia's hand.

"Why?"

"I told you, I have something for you," Rita smiled.

That smile. It lit up her whole face.

Veridia let Rita guide her up to her feet before Veridia pulled Rita into a kiss, arm around her waist.

"Come on."

* * *

Rita sat cross legged on the bed and held out a small blue box.

"What is it?"

"You have to open it and see."

Veridia sat down beside Rita and accepted the box. It was soft and almost fuzzy against her fingertips. Veridia opened the box. Nestled on a white cushion was a silver pendant, rectangular in shape, with a mermaid curled around a blue gemstone.

It was beautiful.

"Do you like it?" Rita asked.

Veridia smiled warmly at her. "I love it."

Veridia leaned in a lightly kissed Rita's cheek. Rita turned and met Veridia's lips in a kiss.

Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad.


End file.
